So, the bearing on my alternator idler pulley is stuffed and the car now sounds terrible if it's driven longer than about 15 minutes.
 
Quoted $638 for both idlers from Japan. 
 
Anyone know where I might be able to find one at a slightly more reasonable price? Apparently they're not the same size as the 4AGE ones, and the bearing can't be replaced.
 
Out of curiosity, anyone know if the alternator idler/supercharger idler are the same size?
 
Thanks.
 

How much!
 
any pictures of the pulleys in question?

I don't know from fact but IIRC since I've had my engine out fairly recently, I believe they are the same.
 
Where did you get that quote from? Toyota Australia? They get horrible pricing, even when you know people who work in their service department.
 
Try Amayama.com, they have a warehouse in Australia and can get really good prices for genuine Toyota parts.
 
Also try Neil Jones on eBay UK, he has a lot of good second hand parts for reasonable prices.
 
Or lastly, take your pulley to a shop and get them to press in a new bearing. Problem solved.

Quote was from my mechanic, presumably through the dealer network.
 
Tried Neil Jones and the other UK spares guy on Ebay. Neil mentioned that the SC AW11 is super rare in the UK, and that he's only just purchased his first one last week. Even so, he's probably going to sell the engine complete.
 
According to several quotes I've found, the bearing can't be replaced.
 
"The tensioner pulleys on the GZE are weird bearings. The bearing itself is a press fit just like all the rest. But the inner race is the same piece that gets clamped to the bracket to hold the tensioner in place. Herein lies the problem, you cant get the bearing because its a custom item made by NGK for Toyota"
 
That led me to Amayama.com and the part number 13570-16010.
 
They have a couple in stock at more reasonable prices. My only hesitation now is that the part is listed as "IDLER ASSY V-RIBBED". The pulley I'm looking for is smooth, as it runs on the opposite side of the ribbed belt.
 
The image searches on that part no show smooth pulleys, so I'm thinking that it's called that only because it only technically uses a ribbed belt. Kinda want to be sure before ordering anything though.
 
 
 
 
 

maj
Or lastly, take your pulley to a shop and get them to press in a new bearing. Problem solved.

That was my first thought hence wanting to take a look at it.

If you wanted to go custom by the sounds of that description you could press something into the centre of the bearing to clamp down on， would need to see it really.

I stumbled on these a while back
 
https://technotoytuning.com/toyota/16v4agze/4agze-idler-pulley
 
I haven't done this yet but let us know if you do. They are prob a bit smaller than factory but should work. Mine sound like they are about to catch fire

Far as I'm aware the SC idler pulley and alternator pulley are one and the same on the GZE. When I ran a 175mm cusco crank pulley, I used a Toyota camry / Subaru EJ20 idler pulley to avoid the fouling and it worked perfectly. There's no reason you couldn't run the same for your alternator circuit, as long as the belt is short enough to take up all the slack.

i use a 4ag timing belt idler as my tensioner on the sc.  no reason why it wouldn't work for the alt, though being smaller in diameter you may need a shorter belt if there is not enough adjustment.
 
it does have to be spaced out a little with washer of same id and i put a washer in the front as the bolt hole is curved. 

On my spare 4agze the pulleys are both the same. Approximately they are 10mm bolt hole, 90mm OD & 25mm thk.
 
The following link shows there are 3 different 90mm OD pulleys with 10mm bolt holes:
http://dayco.com.au/products.aspx?G=1787&P=1520
 
Images for the above pulleys can be seen towards the bottom of the pdf in the following link:
http://m.dayco.com.au/databank/documents/Drive-Belt-Applications-Guide-AUS-July-2015.pdf
 
Obviously go for the cheapest of the the available options.

Give Beenleigh bearings a call, they have a large selection of nearly every bearing you could want.
They also deal direct with toyotas bearing manufacturer and get great pricing
Picked up what was basically a genuine supercharger idler for $10 last year.